Improvement in instruments for clipping and cutting hair



J. K. PRIEST. Instrument for Clipping and Cutting Hair.

No. 220,416. Patented Oct. 7,1879,

WITNESSES.

' INVENTU R- r U W/Q4 fMW i imiBmt.

in im Wu UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH K. PRIEST, NASHUA, N. H., ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICANSHEARERlWANUFAOTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT lN' INSTRUMENTS FOR CLl'PPlNG AND CUTTING HAIR.-

Specification forming part of Lettersv Patent No. 220,416, dated October7, 1879; application filed April 9, 1879.

To all whom it"mag/ concern.-

Be it known that I, Josnfen K. PRIEST, 0t Nashua, New Hampshire, haveinvented an Improvement in lnstruments for Olippin g and Cutting Hair,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to instruments for clipping and cutting hair, andconsists, first, in a certain novel construction whereby the cutters areprevented from approaching the skin too closely, and areretained at anequal distance therefrom at all points; and, second, in a certain novelconstruction of the cap-plate, whereby amore perfect frictional bearingis given to the reciprocating cutter, and the effectiveness, simplicity,and eheapness of the instrument are enhanced.

These points will first be described, and then more particularly pointedout and defined in the claims.

Referring to the drawings which accompany and form. part of thisspecification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the instrument as aFig. 5 is a view of the cap-plate detached.

A A indicate the handles of the instrument,

which are bent downward and slightly inward,

in order that they may be pivoted together at the point a, the handle Abeing placed at the pivotal point above and upon the handle-A. Upon theextremity of the upper handle, A, is cast or otherwise'attached a metalblock, I), (see Figs. 2 and 4,) having a wide central slot cuttransversely in its lower surface directly beneath the point where thehandle A unites with block I), through which slot the prolongedextremity b of the lower handle, A, passes, extending forward to enterand engage with a notch, 0, formed in the rear edge of the cutterplate0. To this metal block b is rigidly secured a steel supporting-plate orcomb'plate, B, by means of screw-bolts d d, inserted from below, theirupper ends being shown in Fig. 4. The comb-plate B is flat, and isground to a true flat bearing upon its upper face. The

front edge of this plate is serrated, as shown at f, the serrationsresembling an ordinary comb, excepting that the teeth are shorter andthe intervals between them somewhat wider. About midway of their lengththese teeth are bent downward at at angle of about forty-five degrees(more or less) with the surface of the plate B. The body of each toothis also slightly beveled off from the upper toward the lower surface, inorder that both the horizontal edges may be cutting-edges.

Upon the upper surface of the comb-plate B is placed the cutter-plate 0,formed (as is the comb-plate also) of a fine quality of steel. The edgeof the cutter-plate is serrated, as shown at D, Figs. 1, 3, and 4, eachtooth or cutter registering accurately with a corresponding tooth of thecomb-plate B, the number of the cutting-teeth in plate 0 being somewhatless than the number of teeth in the comb-plate, in order to permit thereciprocation of the cutter without its ends projecting beyond the endsof the comb-plate. Like the latter, also, the teeth are beveled to formeuttingedges, which slide upon the corresponding cuttinged-ges of theteeth in the plate 13, the lower face of the cutter-plate being groundto a true fiat bearing coincident with the upper surface of the plate B.In the rear edge of plate G is formed a notch, 0, to receive theprolonged free end of the handle A, by means of which said plate isreciprocated upon the plate B.

The cutter-plate is held in place by a steel cap-plate, E. (Shown indetached view in Fig. 5.) This plate is formed of a single piece ofmetal, with a slot, g, cut transversely at about the center of theplate, and extending to or nearly to the central longitudinal line,dividing the fronthalf of the plate into two sections. At or'near thecentral point in each section is drilled a hole, h, through which passesthe threaded end of a squared bolt, 1', said bolt passing from a fixedconnection with the comb-plate B upward through a rectangular oblongaperture, h, in the cutter-plate, the threaded ends of said bolts beingadapted to receive thumb-nuts F F, by which the cap plate E is drawndown upon the cutter-plate O, the slots h h in the latter being ofsufficient length to permit its reciprocation.

The cap-plate E has a bearing upon the cutter-plate O nearly coincidentwith the apical linel lof the former. Experience, however, hasdemonstrated that in order to obtain an efl'ectivc instrument it isnecessary that the points of greatest friction shall lie at or near thetwo extremities n n of that line, instead of being distributed equallythroughout its whole extent. Therefore the bearing-edges l I of thecap-plate are so formed that they rise very slightly from theextremities n n toward the center of the plate. This construction isshown considerably magnified in Fig. 3.

The actual departure from a straight edge or true flat bearing is verysmall, being but a minute fraction of an inch but it is nevertheless ofthe highest importance, this construction being absolutely necessary, inorder to secure the perfect operation of the parts.

By slotting the plate E, as shown, the sections lying upon each side ofthe slot may be separately adjusted as to their bearing upon thecutter-plate 0, while that portion of the plate in rear of the slot,being continuous, holds the two bearing-surfaces l l in their truerelation to each other, as determined by the angle to which they areground.

The relative bearing of each section is sepgtltitely ad j usled by meansof the thumb-screws The cap-plate rests near its rear edge upon twosmall bosses, at m. (Seen in Fig. 2, and also shown, but not lettered,in Fig. 4.

The operation of the instrument is as follows: The operator, holding itby the two handles, rests the rounded smooth points of the teeth f uponthe skin and pushes them forward into the hair, at the same time movingthe handle A to and fro, by which the cutter-plate G is reciprocated.The hair, passing between the teeth of the comb-plate B, meets thecutters and is instantly severed, the plate 0 cutting at eachreciprocation. The instrumentis,in the same manner, moved over the wholesurface where its operation is required, the bent teeth f preventing thecutting-edges from approaching too closely to the skin, and holding themat all points at the same distance therefrom, thus clipping the hair toexactly the same length throughout the whole surface over which theinstrument passes, this being accomplished without depending upon theeye of the operator, and in a small part of the time required by themethods of clipping human hair now in use. I

I do not confine myself to the form of comb plate shown in Fig. 5, sinceI may employ a circular comb-plate with acontiuuously-rotating cutter,the teeth of said circular combplate being bent downward in the manneralready described in this specification.

Having thus fullv described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. An instrument for clipping hair having a series of cutting-teethmoving upon a second and similar series, the latter being prolonged, andhaving their extremities bnt downward at a suitable angle, the pointsbeing adapted to rest upon the head and support the cutters in properposition, as set forth.

2. The combination, with the cutter-plate 0, having teeth D, of theplate B, having a corresponding series of teeth with prolongeddownwardly-bent extremities f, asset forth.

3 The combination, with the reciprocating cutter-plate, of a cap-platepartially divided by a central transverse slot, the bearing-edges of thesections upon each side of the slot bein g slightly inclined upward fromthe extremities toward the center of the plate, in order to locate thepreponderance of friction at the ends of the cutter-plate, as set forth.

4. The combination. with the cutter-plateO and the slotted cap plate E,having the bearing-edges l l, slightly inclined upward toward thecenter, of the plate B, having cutting-teeth provided with prolongeddownwardlybent extremitiesf, as set forth.

5. The combination, with the plate B, having cutting-teeth withprolongeddownwardly-bent extremities f, the reciprocating cutter-plateG, and cap-plate E, having slot 9 and inclined bearing-edges l l, of thethreaded bolts i i and thumb-nuts F F, all as set forth.

6. A comb-plate for shearing instruments having teeth whose extremitiesare bent downward at a suitable angle, as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH K. PRIEST.

Witnesses:

L. L. TILDEN, CHAS. B. TILDEN.

